dinsdag 23 april 2013

I am very happy my sage and thyme plants survived the long and rather cold winter so I can use them in this great soup.

I started sowing only 2 weeks ago, some peas, flowers straight outside, but most of it inside in small paperwrap seed pots: the seedlings of the tomatoes, black and blue radishes, grey melons, beets are growing well. The rocket and basil start slowly to show their tops. My friend Aurélie gave me loads of seeds from her potager in the Allier where we visited last march. She is a big fan of swapping seeds and spreading and cultivating old species before they get lost. In her neighborhood she found Kokopelli, an association for the liberation of seeds and the protection of planetary biodiversity. Have a look here.

Although I only have a small balcony, I need to grow some herbs and vegetables every year. It is always such a great feeling to pick something from my own “garden”. Like in this lovely rich soup a few leaves of sage and some thyme make the difference.

I found the recipe in French women don’t get fat cookbook or Waarom franse vrouwen niet dik worden, Het kookboek. Van Mireille Guiliano. A really nice French cookbook, about good, simple food and eating with moderation and attention.

For the butternut squash soup with apples (4-6 portions) you’ll need:

1 medium butternut squash, about 1 kg

2 tbsp good olive oil

2 tbsp butter (optional)

1 big onion, chopped roughly

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

¼ tsp nutmeg, grated

3 sprigs of thyme

3 fresh sage leaves

3 carrots, about 300 grams

2 small apples ( I had 2 old wrinkled ones) or 1 granny smith (recipe)

4-5 cups of warm vegetable stock

Black pepper

Clean the pumpkin, halve, peel and deseed and in cubes of 3 cm.

Peel the carrots and chop in big chunks.

Chop onion and garlic.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a big casserole on medium heat.

Fry onion and garlic for 5 minutes till they soften. Stir in nutmeg, thyme and sage and bake together for another minute.

Add pumpkin and carrots and give it a stir.

Peel the apples and take out the core and add to the casserole together with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on, till the vegetables are soft.

Take out the thyme leaves and puree the soup with a stick blender.

Taste and add some freshly ground black pepper.

It’s a rich and naturally sweet soup, enjoy!

I made some cheesy leek and polenta madeleines to go with the soup.

(recipe adapted from Donna Hay)

For 14 madeleines:

20g butter

1 leek, washed and small cut

80 ml buttermilk

55 g polenta

2 tbsp brown rice flour

¼ tsp baking powder

40 g grated cheese

¼ cup chives

Salt and pepper

20g butter, melted

1 organic egg

Pre heat the oven on 180 ˚C.

Prepare/oil the madeleine tin or muffin tin.

Fry the leeks in the butter slowly till they soften. Let it cool a bit and transfer to a food processor and blend together with the buttermilk into a smooth substance. Set aside.

dinsdag 16 april 2013

I often make this beautiful spice paste or bumbu. The best thing about it is the taste, obviously, but after that it is so easy to make and it’s so versatile, you can make it up to your own desires. Like for my son I leave out the chilies, because he doesn’t like hot. For me I add green chilies or red, just according to the dish or my particular taste that day.

You can use the paste in any noodle soup, but it is also very good in stir-fry vegetable dishes or other Asian food. Just give it a try and see what you think of it.

Just beware of the fact that you buy a certified gluten-free miso, some are made of barley or wheat and even when you buy a rice-based miso there is a possibility of traces of gluten through cross-contamination!

Miso spice paste

6 candlenuts

1 small onion, chopped roughly or 1-2 spring onions

3 tbsp chopped garlic

3 tbsp fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped roughly or for a more explicit taste use galangal root or a mixture of the 2

1 big kaffir lime leave

1 tsp lime or lemon zest

chilies to your taste, red/green, deseeded or not

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 tbsp coriander stalks

1 big tbsp of rice miso

Put everything in a kitchen machine and blend to a smooth paste or use the mortar and pestle and grind to a more rustic paste.

Heat some oil in a wok and bake the paste( about 1 big spoonful a person) for a minute before adding the rest of your ingredients, like vegetables, coconut milk and noodles.

You can keep the paste for a couple of days in a closed pot or freeze it. The best is to make it and immediately use it all!!

woensdag 10 april 2013

Immediately nature is reacting: a week ago the common coots were almost nowhere nesting, but since yesterday it’s busy building nests in the water; there are three big woodpeckers chasing each other in the tops of the trees and at last the grass is starting to grow, my baby rabbits can start growing now. And the color of spring green is at last appearing, bit by bit.

To stay in this green theme I made a lovely bowl of green fake risotto, the recipe I once came up upon on the internet once but could not find again, so I made this interpretation.

Green rice/ fake risotto (2 pers)

1 big handful of rocket

3 tbsp salted butter, room temperature

1 spring onion

black pepper

a little lemon juice

2 cups of cooked brown basmati rice

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

small head broccoli, chopped and steamed

1 cup of frozen peas, cooked separately

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Topping:

1 tbsp roasted pistachios

1 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds or pine nuts

garden cress

smoked paprika powder

First make a nice smooth butter by blitzing rocket, butter, spring onion, pepper and lemon juice together in a small kitchen blender. Set aside.

Cook and steam the peas and broccoli, set aside.

Roast the nuts slowly for about 7 minutes in a dry pan, than set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a casserole and fry onion and garlic slowly with a pinch of salt. When they turn golden add the halved cherry tomatoes and bake together for some minutes. Than stir in broccoli and peas and heat together. Stir in the rice and begin adding the herbed butter, stir well and taste and add enough butter to your taste. When your satisfied with the taste, serve in a nice bowl and sprinkle with the nuts, seeds cress and smoked paprika.

woensdag 3 april 2013

It is too cold and too dry after the long winter for the new sprouts to grow; everywhere I walk in nature I see just tiny little starters of spring greens. Most of the cleansing herbs that grow around us are still in hiding; only a few nettles are starting to come up, the dandelion and the plantain only on some sunny spots, the birches show some buds, but no leaves yet.

We all long for spring!

From my window I see a family of rabbits, they have already 2 youngsters outside, they are really hungry, there isn’t any grass growing yet. I fear for their survival. The water birds are not nesting yet. Really, nature is on a hold. For weeks and weeks there is a strong north-eastern wind blowing, the winter migrating birds are staying in the south, they cannot cross the Pyrenees.

I feel the same. I am waiting for some juice to get flowing again. I feel restless, can’t sit behind my desk, concentrate well ( I cannot find the pictures of the grated salad below;-), I want to get out, to breathe in sun and new life. To get rid of the winter blues, I go out every day to walk, to get going, to keep my body supple. Besides my daily yoga this helps a lot, but now the time arrives that my body wants to get rid of all the heavy materials and expose to some natural warmth. My skin is dry and achy, my body wants to nourish from fresh food.

The other day I picked some, not much, just 2 handfuls of nettle tops and made this simple salad, with some Turkish rocket and mustard greens and a tangy dressing. Just to get the idea of spring.

Over mij

Since november 2007 celiac disease has been diagnosed with me and did I start with the gluten-free diet and lifestyle. I'm very interested in health and food issues. And besides, I Love Cooking. I think cooking is creating. I'm not content with the gluten free range of products in the shops in Holland, so I make most of the food myself. I think gluten free food must be healthy, real food, but above all very tasty. Also non-celiacs must (and they do!) enjoy my food.
I am 50 years old and I live, together with my son, in Rotterdam, Holland.***
Sinds november 2007 is bij mij coeliakie geconstateerd en ben ik begonnen met een glutenvrij dieet. Ik ben erg geïnteresseerd in gezondheid en voeding. Daarnaast ben ik gek op koken. Ik ben niet tevreden over het aanbod van glutenvrije artikelen in de winkels, dus maak ik vrijwel alles zelf. Glutenvrij eten moet lekker zijn, gezond en ook voor niet-coeliakers aantrekkelijk zijn.